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Jerusalem was among the higher elevations in Israel to receive heavy snowfall Thursday morning, with a promise of much more through Thursday night.

As children in the capital awoke early Thursday morning, the promised snow had yet to fall, and to the disappointment of many, the Jerusalem Municipality announced that schools would be open as usual.

That announcement was premature. Just an hour later, unprecedentedly heavy snowfall for this time of year began to blanket the holy city, and school was duly canceled, giving local children that most sought-after of prizes: a snow day!

By mid-morning, the higher hills in Jerusalem saw accumulations of around 3-4 inches. By noon, the snow had all but stopped falling, and what was on the ground began its slow melt. But, the clouds remained, and meteorologists reported throughout the day that an even bigger storm was set to hit northern and central Israel later in the afternoon, with heavy snowfall continuing through the night until Friday morning.

Before moving on to the lovely photos and video of Jerusalem covered in snow and its residents enjoying the rare occurrence, we would like to remind our readers that during these particularly cold times, Israel's young soldiers must continue doing their duty to defend the nation, often under less-than-ideal conditions.

To help ease this burden, Israel Today has put together special winter gift packages for IDF soldiers. Bless a soldier today either by clicking the banner above or FOLLOWING THIS LINK

On to the photos!

And be sure to check out this fun video from Israel's Ynet news portal:

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